Every time I see Akshaye Khanna, I see a man encased by a suit of armor. Just so that he wards off anyone trying to reach too close home. While some might find it cumbersome, it is this armor that makes his smile, from behind the façade of the insouciant drama, all the more affable. Pity it’s a rare sight off screen! But we found the backdoor access and loved every moment of the rendezvous. The backdoor being a chance meeting with his cousin Akhil Kapoor - the youngest of all the cousins (paternal side) and an aspiring actor. Despite having heard fleeting mentions of how Akshaye is often seen with his cousin I couldn’t really picture him as someone who would take a lot of interest in trying to help someone build his career. Given that he appears to have a very casual, take-life-as-it-comes approach towards everything. But I heard of how Akhil has been assisting a few Akshaye starrers, Abbas-Mustan’s RACE being one of them. The boy clearly brings out the protective brother in Akshaye and I totally jumped at the chance of putting them together. Bringing forth a side of the family I had never seen… CB: You guys look pretty close, were you like this as kids too? Akshaye: I have no damn memory of my childhood. Also, he didn’t stay in Bombay. Akhil: All my life I have lived in Dubai, it is only now that I have shifted here to pursue my career. CB: Under Akshaye’s able guidance? Akshaye: I am not taking him under my wing or anything. As a cousin too there’s nothing I can do to make him an actor. It’s his ‘naseeb’. As his family, I will be there if he needs me. Akhil: If I need a second opinion on scripts etc… CB: You have assisted a few films that he has worked on too… Akhil: I started as an assistant on a Martin Scorcese film. Here too I have assisted on RACE… Akshaye: I think Akhil is coming into movies at the right age; for me I entered when I was 19! I personally think I should have studied filmmaking a little more closely, hung around the sets, seen how movies are actually made and then got into it. It would have worked better. I really think Akhil should assist a few more directors and get the feel. Akhil: …Which I am ready for. It’s a lot different from Hollywood where I studied films. I need to get the hang of things here. CB: Get over the initial shock of things too. Akhil: Yes, some things are hard to swallow. I have accompanied Akshaye many-a-time on his sets and sometimes I’ve been aghast to know that the director hadn’t even decided what he wanted to do that day! Akshaye: That happens! But go on the sets of Farhan Akhtar and all - it’s well organised. CB: Somehow I thought these things were prevalent earlier, not so much anymore… Akshaye: You will be surprised! It happens very often even now. Though the younger directors are far surer of what they are doing. CB: I just always thought of Akshaye Khanna as someone who wouldn’t tolerate such slackness… Akshaye: It’s like traffic, it irritates you, but you don’t start breaking other people’s cars and all, right? You might not like it, but you get used to it. Akhil: Akshaye on the sets is totally chilled out. I love to see him work. He is truly one of the best actors we have had. Have you seen GANDHI MY FATHER? It remains my favourite of his films. I love that kind of cinema. I like dark films, PAANCH, though it didn’t even release. I love directors like Anurag Kashyap and Vishal Bhardwaj… Akshaye: I didn’t watch KAMINEY, I loved OMKARA though. Akhil: I prefer those kinds of films to the song and dance routines… CB: But you have to shake a leg if you want to be a Hindi film hero, am I not right, Akshaye? Akshaye: I am not a naturally gifted dancer but it is not like we are expected to do any great dancing. What we do is buffoonery. And I enjoy that. Akhil: I go to dance classes treating it like a cardio workout! Akshaye: That’s not right, you have to enjoy it. Akhil: I do enjoy cardio workouts! Akshaye: Frankly, it has no longer remained a prerequisite. Other than Hrithik, Shahid, Govinda and now Ranbir, we don’t have any good dancers. Abhishek is good, on second thoughts; he is not a good dancer but he knows rhythm. Even amongst the girls, we don’t have any Sridevi or Madhuri anymore. Kajol is not some great dancer but Katrina, Kareena… are average dancers but they are up there… CB: Agreed, dancing is not a prerequisite, now what about the horse-riding and beefing up bit? Akshaye: A lot of people from outside have this perception that to be an actor you have to look a certain way, sport hair like Salman’s, his biceps. This whole six-pack thing…It is great if you want to keep fit, but it should be a personal choice. Akhil: People forget that they should stick to adapting to the character. Akshaye: Listen, the camera either likes you or it doesn’t like you. You can be butt-ugly, but if the camera likes you that’s all you need and that is in no one’s hand. I mean, look at Danny Devito. He is nothing to look at, he has no personality, he has nothing - but the camera loves him. I can give you so many more examples in our country but it’s best not to - here people are too touchy! CB: Seeing you two discuss actors so vehemently, you sure seem to share a very casual rapport. So what’s it that you enjoy doing when you are hanging out? Akhil: As kids we didn’t really hang out too much, he was much older than me. Akshaye: As you grow older, the age difference starts becoming less of an issue… CB: While that is true, what’s it that you guys do together? Akshaye: We play squash together. Akhil: We are mostly hanging out at each other’s homes. Akshaye: We don’t really go clubbing out anything. I think it has been over a year or so that I have gone out dancing. Akhil: We are both quiet people. Akshaye: I would rather sit home and watch movies rather than go out.